


Concealed Love

by datgayrainboww



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Homophobia, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-13
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-08 10:25:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8840998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/datgayrainboww/pseuds/datgayrainboww
Summary: Kids learned about soulmates at a young age. An inexplicable bond between souls, a way of the universe saying that two people are destined to be together. You can try to fight against it, but you are practically guaranteed to fail. Because everyone eventually meets their soulmate and when they do, their connection is almost impossible to deny. And while that may sound perfect, a soulmate bond pays little regard to one’s circumstances.
But that doesn’t stop Oikawa Tooru from wishing it did.





	

Kids learned about soulmates at a young age. An inexplicable bond between souls, a way of the universe saying that two people are destined to be together. You can try to fight against it, but you are practically guaranteed to fail. Because everyone eventually meets their soulmate and when they do, their connection is almost impossible to deny. And while that may sound perfect, a soulmate bond pays little regard to one’s circumstances.

But that doesn’t stop Oikawa Tooru from wishing it did.  
\--------  
Oikawa Tooru was seventeen whenever he discovered his soulmark, a line of messy handwriting scrawled across his inner wrist. It was an exciting moment for him, as he had wanted one for as long as he could remember. But that excitement quickly turned to dread, as the name on his wrist was not one he had expected.

“Hajime Iwaizumi.” He read the words aloud to himself, voice thick with emotion. He wanted to cry. His worst nightmare and greatest dream were coming true, he had gotten the name he had secretly wanted, but it was one his parents would hate.

“Iwa-chan.” He choked out, cradling his arm close to his chest. And it was then, as he curled in on himself, that the tears began to fall.  
\---------  
Tooru was six when he first learned the word, his father growling it out as an insult. “Disgusting.” He had said, glaring sharply at two men on the other side of a park. “I can't believe they let them roam our streets like that. They're an abomination. Sinners who will only corrupt our children.”

“Who is?” Tooru had asked, wide eyes still filled with young innocence. He didn't understand what his father was talking about, the two men on the bench didn't seem to be doing anything wrong. They were acting like countless other couples he had seen, both in real life and in movies. In fact, the only thing strange about them was the fact that they were both boys. But that didn't bother him.

It did however, bother his father.

“Those men over there are faggots, homosexuals, gays. They are sinners created by the devil and should never be interacted with. They will feed you lies, telling you that loving another man is alright, but let me tell you son, it is not.” He lectured, stern voice filled with venom. “Do you understand that?”

“Yes Papa.” Tooru had replied.

“Good, then we shouldn't have any problems.”  
\---------  
And for the most part, there weren’t any problems. For awhile there was concern over Tooru’s mannerisms, as his only friend was another male and while Iwaizumi was plenty masculine, Tooru had always been on the softer side. But that concern faded as Tooru grew older.

During his middle school years, Tooru rose in popularity. He excelled in volleyball, his sport of choice, and he was growing up to be a dashing young man, so it was with little surprise that girls began to take interest in him. And he seemed interested in them as well, openly flirting back only to politely decline any and all confessions.

This popularity among girls followed him to high school, a place where he eventually gathered quite the fanclub. But despite the fact that he was starting to get a confession every week, he kept denying them. He still only wanted his soulmate, and while some girls tried to fake it, he kept refusing. He knew that there was no way to be certain until he received a mark of his own.

He hadn’t realized just how troublesome that mark would be.  
\---------  
It took awhile for Tooru to gather himself and even longer to actually get ready. So it wasn't surprising that Iwaizumi arrived before he finished.

“Tooru!” His mother called out, “Hajime is here!”

“Shit.” Tooru mumbled, quickly unscrewing a jar of concealer. He still needed to cover his mark, not only could his parents not know, but Iwa-chan couldn't as well. “One minute!” He shouted back, smearing the cream across his wrist. It helped that he was going to be wearing longsleeves, but he still needed the extra protection.

Finally deciding it was enough for the mark to go unnoticed, he stuffed in his school bag and hurried downstairs. “Here I am!” His greeting with loud and bright, a hopefully convincing grin forced onto his face. Iwaizumi had a habit of noticing Oikawa’s bad moods and while it could be rather endearing, it was also very annoying.

But apparently he didn't notice this time as he sent Oikawa an ordinary scowl. “Took you long enough.” He growled out and Tooru laughed airily.

“Not all of us are brutes, Iwa-chan,” He chided. “Beauty takes time.”

“Yeah well if Beauty doesn’t hurry, we’re going to be late.” His tone was snappy enough that Tooru obliged, kissing his mom in the cheek before skipping out of the house. Behind him he could hear Iwaizumi mumbling threats beneath his breath and while most people would find it concerning, Oikawa just smiled softly to himself.

Iwaizumi may not know about it now, but the two of them were bonded. Or at least Oikawa was bonded to him. The general idea of soulmates was that two people would have each other's names, making it obvious that they shared a two-way bond. However it isn’t always that way. There were rare cases where the bond was unrequited and only one person carried their partner’s name. Tooru just hoped that this wasn't one of those cases.

“Hey, what's wrong?” Iwaizumi asked, poking Oikawa’s cheek. The taller boy hadn't noticed but at some point in his thoughts his small smile had been replaced with a frown, his energetic steps slowing to a sad walk.

Startled Tooru looked up, eyes wide and full of emotion, before he realized just what was going on. “I'm fine Iwa-chan.” He replied, forcing a smile on his face as he tried to play it off.

“Don't lie to me Shittykawa.” Hajime snapped, lightly slapping the back of his best friend’s head. “Don't think I didn't notice how red your eyes were earlier, something is obviously bothering you.”

“It's nothing.” He replied, shrugging off the concerned hand on his shoulder. 

“You sure? Because if this is about the soulmate thing again you're an idiot. Plenty of people get their mark late, it's nothing to stress about.”

“I know it isn't Iwa-chan and I wasn't even worried about that. Not that I was worried about anything. I'm perfectly fine.” Tooru’s words began speeding up a little towards the end as his anxiety began to show, but he quickly tried to hide with his cheerful, signature pose. Something told him his friend saw right through it but much to Tooru’s relief, he just grunted and dropped the topic.

It was true that Oikawa had previously been stressed about soulmates. It was a topic that had been lingering at the front of his mind ever since his classmates began receiving theirs. And now that he had his mark that stress was supposed to fade, but in his mind, it was just amplified.

He would have to be more careful talking about soulmates now, unable to mention the name on his wrist. If he said anything about it, people would want to see, and if people saw it, the truth would get out. And Tooru didn't know if he could handle the truth.

The truth would mean his parents disowning him, hating him. It could possibly mean becoming an outcast, his school life being overwhelmed with negative rumors. And worst of all, it could mean losing Iwa-chan.

Until Iwa-chan got his mark there would be no telling how he would react to Oikawa’s. And even then there was still a possibility of him getting some random girl’s name instead of that of his best friend’s. However, the worst possible situation would be one where Iwaizumi did receive Oikawa’s name. Only to reject it out of disgust.

That was a situation Oikawa would definitely be unable to handle. He didn't quite know Hajime’s views on gay relationships, he never spoke up whenever it was mentioned, but if they were anything like the ones he heard about then Tooru’s chances weren't very good. The majority of his school seemed to frown upon homosexual relationships, and the few people with same-gender soulmates were known to be bullied.

So despite the fact that rejecting your soulmate was considered painful and nearly impossible, the idea still scared Tooru. He didn't want Iwa-chan to leave him behind.  
\---------  
Tooru lasted a month. A month of carefully applied concealer, strategically placed wristbands, and long sleeve shirts. A month of directing conversations away from soulmates, of sleepless nights and gnawing anxiety. And then one day, he got caught. 

It had been an accident really. Tooru had woken up late one weekend and had naturally assumed that he was home alone, after all his father works on Saturdays and his mom almost always has plans. So he had carelessly wandered into the kitchen, hair a mess and wearing glasses instead of contacts, in a desperate search for food. But just as he was reaching for a glass, he realized all too late that he wasn't alone.

“Tooru,” His mother asked, startling him so much that he almost dropped a cup. “What happened to your wrist?”

“What do you mean?” Tooru smiled, slipping the arm behind his back to tug on his sleeve. His mind was searching frantically for a way out of this situation, panic and self-hatred clouding his thoughts. He couldn’t believe he had been so stupid. He should have checked and verified his parent’s status before leaving his room with the mark uncovered. He should have seen her in the kitchen. He should have been more careful.

“Don’t play dumb. I caught a glimpse of darkness on your wrist and considering the fact you haven’t done anything to earn such a nasty bruise, that can only mean one thing. You got your soulmark!” Tooru’s mother was obviously overjoyed by this turn of events, but her cheerfulness only made the teenager cringe. Now that she knew about it, she would certainly want to see.

“Yeah.” He muttered, fiddling with the sleeve hem, his head bowed and his gaze on the floor.

His mother didn’t seem to notice his sullen mood, still too caught up in her own excitement, as she just kept babbling. “So tell me dear, who is it? Do we already know her? Or do you still need to meet? If so, I’ll be happy to help. They say you shouldn’t arrange a soulmate's first meeting, but who cares? I’m sure she is just as excited to meet you. But oh, I’m getting ahead of myself. First we need to know her name. She must surely be beautiful, right Tooru? Tooru?”

She was just now noticing the boy’s uncanny silence, and as she watched, the boy’s shoulders trembled, face buried in his hands. Muffled sobs were coming from him, telling her that these definitely weren’t tears of joy. “What’s wrong?” She asked moving to embrace him. She stopped short though, eyes widening as her son just flinched away. 

“I’m sorry Mom.” He croaked out, looking up at her through bleary eyes. “I’m a failure of a son.”

“Oh Tooru, that’s not true. You’re the best son I could ever ask for.” She cooed trying to reassure them. But apparently it just had the opposite effect, because Tooru just started crying harder.

He was always an ugly crier and once he realized this he tried to avoid crying around others, but this time, he couldn't help it. “That's not true. If you knew who my soulmate was, you would hate me.”

“No girl could ever make us hate you.” She comforted him.

“But that's the thing. It's not a girl.” And with that Tooru sobbed even harder, his legs giving out and leaving him to weep on the floor.  
\-------  
Tooru didn't know how long he spent crying, but his tears had barely dried when his front door slammed closed. “Is it true?” His father boomed and Tooru winced, his mom must have called him home early. “Is my son really a faggot?”

“I don't know.” Tooru’s mom said softly, scared to admit the truth. “He just said it wasn’t a girl, I haven't actually seen the mark.”

“Then let’s see it. Get up Tooru.” His father snapped and the teenager had no choice but to obey. Slowly rising to his feet, he refused to meet his parents’ eyes, teeth worrying away at his lower lip.

“Where is it?” Oikawa senior snapped at his wife who quietly revealed its location on Tooru’s left wrist. Almost immediately his arm was being roughly grabbed, sleeve being shoved up to leave his mark bared. There was only silence then, although his father’s grip was slowly tightening.

“Dad..” Tooru whimpered, gently trying to pull his wrist back, looking up to meet his father’s eyes. There was a chance he would have said more, but any words that were forming were cut short.

The sound of the slap rung out loudly through the house and Tooru’s head whipped to the side. “Don't call me that. You aren't my son. My son would never be a faggot. I don't want any faggots in my house.”

“But, you can't mean…” Tooru tried to say, only to flinch when his father lifted a hand.

“Get out of my house.” He said suddenly pulling Tooru forward and out towards the door. “Get out of my house and get out of my life. You aren't my son any longer and I never want to see you again. So just leave!” His father spat out those last words, shoving his now disowned son out of the open door.

“But-” Tooru protested, turning to face his parents.

“Go.” His father growled and then before Tooru could react, the door was slammed in his face.  
\--------  
Tooru sat outside of his household doors for quite awhile, mind numb as he attempted to process everything that had just happened. His parents had discovered his mark and promptly kicked him out, giving him absolutely no time to gather his belongings. It was unlikely that he could go stay at his sister’s because not only was he lacking transportation money, but he doubted she would even be allowed to help him.

In any other situation he would have gone to stay at with the Iwaizumi family, but not now. Now going to Iwa-chan’s would be the worst possible option. But aside from Hajime, he didn't have any close friends to take him in.

Tugging on his sleeve to cover the mark that had started this mess, he climbed to his feet. Some exercise and fresh air should be good for him right now and it would allow him to think without any distractions. So with no clear goal in mind, Tooru began to walk.  
\----------  
It was late at night when Tooru returned to his neighborhood, stomach growling from hunger. The only thing he had eaten today was a small snack around lunchtime, that was all he had been able to afford at the time. Pausing on the sidewalk outside of his house, he watched the silhouettes in the window before letting out an overdramatic sigh. There was no way they were going to let him in, his father was too stubborn for that.

Looking yearningly at the house next door, he considered his options. There weren't very many of them and this was certainly his best one, so with great reluctance he approached the door.

It only took a few seconds for the door to open up and when it did it was to reveal the confused face of Mama Iwaizumi. “Tooru?” She asked. “What are you doing here so late?”

Oikawa shifted his weight awkwardly, hesitating for a moment before meeting the woman’s eyes. “Is Iwa-chan home?” He asked, frowning at just how small and weak his voice sounded. 

“Of course.” Hajime’s mother stopped and analyzed him for a moment before stepping aside. “Come on in.”

Tooru crossed the threshold, eyes scanning over the familiar surroundings. He had been friends with Iwa-chan for around ten years now and so him coming over wasn't unusual. It's just that he didn't tend to show up uninvited this late in the night. “Pardon the intrusion.” He muttered sliding off his shoes.

“He's up in his room.” The female said. “You can go on up if you want, I'll bring some snacks in a little bit.”

Tooru just nodded absentmindedly, not really comprehending what the mother had to say. His feet padded softly as he climbed the stairs and continued down the hallway before stopping in front of a familiar door. Taking a deep breath, he exhaled it slowly, then he raised his fist and knocked.

For a second all Tooru could hear was shuffling, before footsteps approached the door. “Oikawa?” Iwaizumi asked, swinging it open. “What are you doing here?”

“Is it a crime to come visit my best friend?” Oikawa said with false cheerfulness, forcing a grin onto his face. It was harder to do than normal, but he still tried, not wanting Iwaizumi to pick up on his foul mood.

“It is whenever you're uninvited and the sun has already set.” Iwaizumi growls out before moving out of the doorway. “But since you’re here, you might as well come inside.”

“Thanks Iwa-chan!” Tooru cheered, breezing past the gruff older male. He flopped onto the other’s bed, hugging the pillow to his chest with a small hum. The familiar scent of Hajime comforted him incredibly and he let his eyes slide close, barely aware of his friend sitting down next to him.

The bed creaked softly but Oikawa kept his eyes closed. “What are you doing?” The question was said in a seemingly angry tone of voice, but Tooru could hear a hint of softness in it. “Oi, Shittykawa. Answer me.”

“What does it look like I'm doing?” Tooru hummed, ignoring the soft hand resting on his leg. Sliding his eyes open slightly, he peered up at the other male through his eyelashes and a lump rose in his throat.

Scenarios flashed through his mind. Images of an older Iwaizumi waking him up gently, tone soft with affection. Sitting above him, peering down at Tooru like he was the only one in the world. Oikawa choked at these images, squeezing his eyes shut in a failed attempt to stop the tears, burying his face in order to hide his expression.

“Oikawa?” Iwaizumi asked, not expecting his friend to break down like this. “What's wrong?” 

He didn't get a response, not unless you counted Oikawa curling in on himself even more. His sobs were quiet, he was clearly trying to muffle them, but they seemed loud to Hajime.

It hurt to watch Tooru cry, but Hajime didn't want to leave him alone. So he stayed there until the sobs reduced to sniffles and his friend’s breath began to even out. Oikawa fell asleep before his eyes and with a heavy sigh Iwaizumi stood up. Shutting off the lights, he laid down a space away from Tooru, covering both of them with a blanket.

It saddened Iwaizumi to see his best friend this miserable, but it couldn't be helped. Closing his eyes and leveling his breath, Hajime fell into an uneasy sleep.  
\-----------  
Tooru awoke late the next morning, stirring slightly only to feel a pair of arms tighten around his waist. “Don't go.” A familiar voice slurred into his neck, drawing Tooru closer to their warm body. “Not yet.”

The words caused Tooru’s breath to hitch as he realized just what was happening. He was cuddling with Iwa-chan, their legs tangled together with Oikawa’s back pressed against his soulmate’s chest. It was a comfortable position, one that made Tooru smile softly. Hajime probably hadn't done this consciously, but that didn't stop it from feeling amazing.

It was so perfect that Tooru could have laid here all day. However, his bladder disagreed.

“Iwa-chan, I need to get up.” Tooru whispered, cringing at the rasp in his voice. His eyes were itching as well, an annoying reminder of yesterday's events. Gulping as he remembered that this was only happening because Iwaizumi was asleep and didn't know the truth, any peace he had felt was promptly shattered.

Suddenly it felt like he needed to cry again, despite the fact that he certainly had no more tears to waste. Frowning to himself, he tried gently removing the arms around his waist and to his shock, the tactic actually worked. He carefully untangled himself from the sleeping figure, before standing up and looking down at his best friend.

Iwaizumi’s typically rough features had smoothed out in slumber, a small smile on his face instead of the scowl he typically wore around Oikawa. It was nice to seem him in such a vulnerable position, snuggled up with a pillow as if it could replace the missing body. His expression was one that Tooru wished he could wake up to every morning, gazing at him lovingly before pressing a soft kiss to that gentle smile.

Shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts, he reminded himself that such a thing would never happen. Iwa-chan would surely reject any confessions from Tooru and imagining otherwise would only get himself hurt. Letting out a loud sigh, he turned to head towards the shower, only to stop a few seconds later.

Humming to himself, he glanced over at Iwaizumi’s closet. Tooru needed to take a shower and it wasn't as if he had any spare clothes on, so perhaps it wouldn't hurt to borrow some of Hajime’s. Would it?  
\--------  
Tooru hummed softly to himself as he emerged from Hajime’s bathroom. The shower had done him a lot of good, refreshing him enough that he had began to feel a little like himself. The only bad thing was that despite having gotten lucky with finding a hairdryer and comb, he hadn't found any usable concealer, everything was the wrong shade. And since using one of Iwaizumi’s sweaters could be seen as intimate, his mark was unfortunately exposed.

So he kept his wrist curled closely to his chest, the inside facing away from peering eyes, as he wandered into Iwaizumi’s room. Apparently the spiky haired male had just woken up because he was still shirtless when Oikawa walked in.

“There you are.” He snapped, quickly yanking a shirt over his head. He must have noticed the way Tooru was staring, eyes trying to decipher a line of black along the male’s lower rib cage. It had seemed almost like a soulmark, but that couldn't be true. Iwa-chan would tell him if he discovered his soulmate, he was sure of it.

“Are you feeling better?” The deep voice drew Oikawa’s attention, softer now than earlier. There was a hint of pink across Hajime’s cheeks, much to Tooru’s curiosity, but he knew they were genuinely concerned.

“I’m perfect.” Tooru said, trying to go for his usual cheer.

Iwaizumi wasn't having any of it though, arching an eyebrow expectantly. He reminded Oikawa of his mother in a way, a fact that made Tooru sigh. “I guess I'm not entirely okay. However I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“You will eventually though. Right?” Iwaizumi asked and Tooru. “You shouldn't let something eat at you.”

“I know, Iwa-chan.” Tooru sighed. “But can we please do it after lunch? I don't want my appetite ruined, it's been awhile since I ate.”

“Fine.” Hajime growled and together they headed downstairs.  
\--------  
A good hour later the two of them were back upstairs, Tooru curled up on the bed watching Star Wars. He had been careful to hide his mark all through lunch, but he knew it was only a matter of time.

“Ready to talk?” Hajime asked, plopping himself down near his friend’s feet. 

“I guess.” Tooru muttered, knowing by now that there was no avoiding this. Typically when he was in a bad mood, Iwaizumi would ask about it a little bit and if he didn't get an answer he would just relent. But considering how Tooru had broken down and cried last night, there was no way he was getting out of this.

“But before I do, can you promise me something? Can you promise me that even if you don't want to be my friend after this, even if we go our never speak again, can you promise not to hate me?” Tooru asked, voice cracking towards the end.

“Nothing you could do would ever make me hate you.” Iwaizumi replied. “But if you need to hear it, fine. I promise that no matter what, I will never hate you.”

Tooru just nodded, not sure if he trusted his friend’s words. He wanted to, but he could never be certain. “Ok, good.” He whispered to himself before beginning to speak. He kept his eyes downcast though, thumb lightly passing over his inner left wrist.

“Late last month, I received my soul mark. It was something I had been excited about for as long as I could remember, but when I read the name I couldn't help but feel devastated. It wasn't what I had expected, although I suppose some part of me wanted it, and it would only cause me to be judged. So I hid it, I didn't let no one know about it, not even my family. I was too scared of how people would react about it, and I had every right to be. Because when my parents discovered it yesterday morning, their reactions were just as bad as I had imagined. They kicked me out of the house, my father called me a disgrace, claiming that I couldn't be their son. It was one of the worst feelings in the world to hear that. Some of my worst fears were coming true and all of it was because my soulmate is a boy. All of it was because, my soulmate is you.”

Tooru’s voice cracked several times during his speech, especially towards the end, but he managed to hold in his tears while speaking. It was at the end, when he held out his wrist for Iwaizumi to inspect and the boy just stared at it silently, that his lip began to tremble and tears began to fall. “Please don't hate me.” He whispered in a such a broken voice that Iwaizumi looked up to meet his gaze. And when he did, Oikawa was surprised to see his eyes glistening with unshed tears.

“You’re an idiot.” Hajime muttered. “To think I would hate you because of something like this. Not only because that is a stupid reason but because I have no right to judge.” And with that, Iwaizumi tugged off his shirt, revealing a well toned chest. But most importantly he was revealing the right side of his rib cage where in the owner’s own swirly handwriting was his soulmate’s name.

“Oikawa Tooru.” Hajime read out as Tooru gasped, leaning forward to touch the familiar lighting. And just like when Hajime had touched his mark, the words changed from pitch black to a glowing teal, proving the authenticity. The action just made Tooru cry harder, latching onto his best friend.

“Iwa-chan…how? When?” Tooru asked, voice weak and distorted by his tears.

“I got it last year and couldn't bring myself to say anything. I told my parents and they were fine, but I figured your views were the same as your parents and that I would just be rejected. That's why I kept it hidden. It turns out you aren't the only one who can use concealer.” He added the joke at the end, hoping to lighten the mood, but it came out slightly bitter.

“So all this time…” Oikawa started before breaking out into a hysterical laugh, leaving Iwaizumi concerned and awkward. “All this time and both of us had the same fear. We’re idiots Iwa-chan, idiots.”

“I know we are Oikawa. If only we had just realized…” He trailed off awkwardly leaving the rest to assumption as Tooru curled into his chest. The boy’s tears were mostly gone at this point, reduced to tiny sniffles.

“But that's okay.” Oikawa mumbled into his neck, breath warm against the bare skin. “Because everything worked out.”

“Yeah.” Iwaizumi agreed. “I guess it did. After all, you are mine and I am your’s.”

Tooru just hummed in agreement, completely filled with joy. “Yup.” He popped, thinking that wouldn’t have it any other way. They would be able to make this work. And so he leaned up in their embrace pressing their lips together to share their first kiss of many. A kiss between soulmates.

**Author's Note:**

> Not only is this my first work here but it is also one of my first oneshots. I hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought. Thanks for reading.


End file.
